Rescue (Emily and Mason) (5 page)

“If you can get them to relax and behave without saying a
word, then you can move on to the next cage of dogs. We’ll work our way up to
Baby. If she’s adopted by the time you get to her pen, don’t worry, there’ll be
another one just like her in here in a few days.” I’m about to argue with her
when she opens up the pen door, and the little toy dogs come skittering to the
front, unable to jump up past the barrier. With just one motion of her hand,
the little dogs stop their yipping and sit down on the floor as if they’ve been
acting that way their entire lives.

“Alright, I’ll do it this way. But I want something in
return.” Emily doesn’t look at me, her eyes narrowing.

“You were the one who wanted my help,” she reminds me, but
I’m not going to let her get away with this that easy.

“I did, but you’re not teaching me how to handle Baby.
You’re now teaching me how to handle very non-masculine dogs.” The corner of
her lip twitches ever so slightly and I feel pride in knowing I’ve made her
smile without having to emasculate myself with a German shepherd.

“What do you want in return?” The hint of a smile is gone
and she’s all business now, her eyes still on the dogs in front of her.

“I want a lunch date,” I tell her with finality. “Tomorrow
is Friday, and I know a great place not too far from here that serves breakfast
and lunch at the same time. So even if you’re not into lunch, we can do
breakfast.” Emily looks up at me with her lips in a thin line, and then her
gaze darts back down to the dogs.

“No,” she says quietly. In all my life, I’ve never been
turned down for a date. Not once have I heard the word no from a girl. It must
be heartbreaking and frustrating for men who hear it all the time.

“No?” I ask, just to make sure. She nods her head and takes
a step back from the dog pen, closing the door. “Fine, but you’ll still teach
me?” I see her about to say no and feel my gut sink. I’ve ruined all my
chances, right here, by asking her out too soon.

“On one condition,” she says, and I wait for it. “Don’t ask
me out on a date again.” With that, she walks away from me and out of the dog
kennel room.

Emily

I don’t normally need an alarm clock. But this morning mine actually
does go off, and I have to pull it off the nightstand to get it to stop. The
house is quiet by the time I get the beeping piece of plastic to stop murdering
my ear drums. I swing my legs over the side of my bed and put my head in my
hands, its pounding.

Laura told me last night she was going into work early, and
Jim, of course, always goes into work early and stays until about four or five
in the afternoon. So I’m alone in the house for the first time in weeks. I
manage to stand up and make my way down the stairs with wobbling legs, trying
to determine what gave me an actual headache. I never get sick, even with Laura
working in the ER all the time.

There  are a slew of different allergy pills and pain pills
in the medicine cabinet in the downstairs bathroom. I pull out some Advil and
twist the cap, pulling out two. They’re large liquid filled pills so they
should work quickly. As soon as I have them I fill up a glass of water in the
kitchen and chase the pills with the entire thing.

A hot shower should make me feel better. I’ve been feeling
off ever since my encounter with Mason yesterday. I wanted so desperately to
tell him that yes; I would go out to brunch with him this morning. I wonder
idly if he even knows it’s actually called brunch. My shower is hot and long,
but it doesn’t really help relieve the tension in my neck.

I don’t wear any perfume today, just my usual. I make sure
to put my hair up in a messy ponytail so I won’t look as if I’m trying today. When
I take one look in the mirror at my face, I groan. I definitely don’t have to
do anything else to make it look like I’m not trying to be pretty. I have bags
under my eyes. I decide that’s too much. I don’t want to look like I’m hung
over.

So as I’m doing my work on my computer for school on the
laptop downstairs, I have slices of cucumbers under my eyes to firm up the
skin. By the time I’m done turning in my essays, and participating on the
discussion forums, the bags under my eyes are minimized. Some of it might be
due to the Advil too.

I put on a little eyeliner to make it look like I actually
showered today and got ready, and then I make my way out to my car. On Fridays,
 I can go in early to take care of the animals. Then I spend the rest of the
day paying attention to them all, hoping that someone will come in and adopt.
Fridays are usually busy adoption days for the shelter, and so are Saturdays.

My car is starting to look like it needs a bath considering
there’s dust on the roads; we haven’t had as wet a spring as we should be. I
don’t bother waving to anyone as I drive to work; the neighbors haven’t really
made themselves prominent in my life. I pull up in the parking lot with a heavy
heart, wondering why turning down one date is affecting me this much.

It’s too early for Mason’s car to be here, so I don’t look
for it. Instead, I lock my car as I get out and head directly for the building.
Taylor meets me at the door with a smile and walks back with me to the cat
kennel, telling me about a new cat they have that needs some special care. As
soon as we’re in the room, I see Jesse opening up the door to follow us. She
looks a little peeved about something.

“I told you I could show her today. It’s not a big deal,”
Jesse says in a sweet voice to Taylor. He gives her a passing look and turns
his attention back to me. I don’t understand why the attention is all on me all
of a sudden.

“I think I’ll be alright on my own, thanks,” I tell them
both, my tone dismissive. Jesse gives me a dark look before she turns around,
and I let out a sigh as I realize I’ve just ruined my chances of being friends
with her. That’s alright; I don’t need to drag her down with my personal issues
anyway. Taylor gives me a curious look before he leaves the room too, but not
before I see the curiosity turn to disappointment.

“They’re all acting strange, Midnight.” I confide in the cat
as I get her out of her cage, giving her a treat as I brush her. The door opens
again, and I feel my back go rigid, and Midnight seems to sense my unease, just
like Baby did yesterday. I turn around to find Mason leaning against the
doorframe again, his eyes on the cat.

“I came to check on Butterscotch, the new cream tabby with
the broken leg.” I shrug one shoulder absentmindedly, feeling awkward around
him now. He makes his way to one of the cages and opens up the door of the
tabby he’s talking about. The cat head-butts his hand eagerly and laps at his
fingertips. It’s the first time I’ve seen one of them really react to him in a
positive manner.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, I was rude and should have just
left it at no.” I blurt out the words before  know what I’m doing, just wanting
to make it less awkward between the two of us. Mason is quiet as he checks over
the wrapped leg, and then he hands the tabby a treat before he closes the cage
door. He finally turns to look at me with his eyebrows furrowed.

“He wasn’t worth your time and definitely not your mourning,”
Mason’s voice is low as he says it, his eyes dark. I blink a few times,
forgetting about the cat on the table in front of me for the first time in my
life. I never stop paying attention to the animals here for someone else’s
entertainment.

“She,” I correct him, and his eyes pop open as his mouth
starts to drop.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you were, you were,” I
finally understand what he’s trying to get at and feel my face flush crimson,
the heat almost burning my flesh.

“No, no that’s not what I meant. Wow, this is awkward,” I
try to find the right words and lean my hip against the table as I idly run a
hand over Midnight’s head. “Can you keep a secret?” I can’t believe I’m about
to tell him this.

“If it’s yours I can,” Mason responds cryptically, now completely
focused on me. I’m finding it increasingly hard to focus when I’m looking at
his eyes, which oddly looked green yesterday and now look blue in the dimmer
lighting. Maybe they’re more of a sea green.

“Eight months ago, something happened to me that didn’t
involve a guy. It involved a woman, and it’s not what you’re thinking. I’ve
been having a hard time,” I search for the right word and Mason waits
patiently, “coping with it.” He’s silent for so long, searching my face that I
feel like a germ under a microscope.

“You know you don’t always have to cope with things on your
own. Sometimes it’s okay to ask for help,” I snort, unable to help it.

“Believe me, I’ve asked and received, and it’s done nothing.
The last therapist told me I have to do what I refuse to do to be able to move
on, so I think that option’s out.” Midnight picks at my arm and I scoop her up
to have something to do. My ears are red from admitting that I’ve been to a
therapist.

“I didn’t mean help from a therapist, but I’m glad that you
tried that route. I meant from a friend,” I try for a smile, but it won’t quite
reach my eyes.

Mason

I have no idea what she’s talking about, but if it involved
therapy then it must have been awful. I know when I was a kid, my father took
me to therapy when my mother passed away. No matter how many pictures I drew,
it never made me feel better about it. I just learned to cope with it on my
own.

Emily’s eyes are shimmering with embarrassment, and I feel bad
for even pushing her yesterday. All last night, I kept wondering if it had been
me. I was wondering if I wasn’t good enough for her to go out on a date with. I
admit I was angry for a while, but mostly because I was ashamed of being turned
down. Now I feel like a complete tool.

“I could use a friend,” she finally says, tucking Midnight
away into her kennel cage. I feel a pressure in my chest release when I hear
her say that, but I have a feeling getting to know Emily is going to be like
getting to know Baby. It’s not going to be easy, and there will be a lot of
road blocks along the way, but in the end I think it’ll be worth it.

“Good, so friends usually eat lunch together at work.” I’m
early, for two reasons. I wasn’t able to sleep much last night and actually
woke up without the need for my alarm clock. And I wanted to come in to check
on Butterscotch. Maybe there was a third reason, but she doesn’t want to be a
reason right now so I’ll stop thinking about it.

Emily seems to be thinking hard over my offer, and I roll my
eyes at her, getting out the next cat for her to brush. I notice that Cream
sickle is missing and do an inward smile. I’m glad he found a home. The next
feline to be graced by Emily’s touch is Sam, a Siamese cat who is missing one
ear.

“Don’t get your fur in a knot, Emily, I was just saying we
could swap deserts and complain about bullies, nothing like singing the Mason
and Emily sitting in a tree song.” That does her in. She takes Sam from me and
gives him a snack as she begins to brush his short hair. I think she brushes
them more for the attention than actually making them look good. Because short
haired cats don’t’ really need brushed.

“Whatever, I don’t bring dessert. And there aren’t bullies
here. Okay, maybe a few but I’d never tell you whom I think is a bully.” Sam
twirls under her fingers and rubs his tail in her face, making her sneeze. I
take that as a good time to exit and back out the door. Just before I make it
out the door I call out to her.

“You’ll tell me one day!” Just as the door closes I see
Taylor at the end of the hall with a clipboard in his hands, his eyes narrowed.
I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of medical waste cleanups for me in
the future.

“How is Butterscotch doing?” He asks as he walks up the hall
towards me. I see he’s wearing a pair of jeans today rather than his slacks.

“She’s good; no sign of infection and the swelling has gone
down significantly.” I try to sound as professional as possible, walking beside
Taylor down the hall. It’s not a wide hall, and we have to walk close together,
but we’re not touching.

“Excellent. You’re here early today; Gail won’t be in until
two if she does come in. She sent me an email to let me know that the retriever
had puppies.” Of course he would notice if I was here early. He now has the
clipboard down at his side and he’s staring over at me, waiting for an excuse
for an explanation.

“She let me know this morning that she won’t be in this
afternoon again. I came in early to check on Butterscotch and help out with
some of the cleaning before my shift.” A boss can’t complain about that, right?
Taylor Warren opens his mouth to do just that, but I tell him that I have to
check on something in the dog kennels and turn on my heel to get away from him.

“Meet me when your shift begins at two and we’ll discuss
what you’ll be doing for the remainder of the day!” Taylor calls back to me,
but he doesn’t follow me into the dog kennel. I close the door and try to get
my frazzled nerves under control. He knows who I was talking to in the cat
kennel room because when he passed he looked through the glass on the door just
to be sure.

Jesse comes around the corner with a puppy in her arms and
smiles at me before she opens up the door. Just as she’s about to leave she
turns around to watch me open up the Chihuahua pen and step inside. Her eyes
narrow as she slowly walks back.

“Have you seen Emily today?” She asks as if she’s trying to
make conversation.

“I did, she’s in the cat kennel room.” I try to drown out
the sound of the little dogs yapping by focusing on Jesse’s face. She seems
irritated about something, like I didn’t respond properly to her.

“I meant, did you see the way her hair was pulled back? She
looks kind of rough today.” I did notice that, but I’m not about to tell her my
theory on why Emily looks rough today. I upset her careful balance yesterday,
and I’m not about to upset it even more by stirring up trouble with Jesse. The
puppy tries to get out of her arms, but she keeps a tight grip on it.

“That little guy’s getting a little rambunctious; you want
me to take him for you?” Jesse’s about to decline the offer when she sees Emily
step through the door. A smile starts to bloom on her face until she sees Jesse
in front of me, the puppy in her arms. The way she’s standing so close to me
makes it look like we’re discussing something more intimate than me taking a
dog for her.

“Thank you so much Mason for helping me out!” Jesse shoves
the dog into my arms and plasters a saucy grin on her lips as she saunters past
Emily, holding the door open for me. Emily’s smile has long gone faltered and
disappeared. As I’m passing her, she turns her face away from me and makes her
way to Baby’s kennel. She’s probably hoping to get her ready for the onslaught
of adopters that will be coming in today.

“What the hell was that about?” I ask Jesse as we walk down
the hallway, the puppy wriggling in my arms. I let him up to lie on my shoulder
and pat him on the back.

“You know she’s off limits, right? Emily doesn’t date anyone,
and from what I’ve seen of her since she started about six months ago she’s not
exactly dating material.” I’m shocked by her obvious display of jealousy and
stop in my tracks, the puppy still over my shoulder.

“First and foremost, it’s not your decision whether or not
Emily is off limits, and who said I’m interested? Second, where are you taking
this dog?” Jesse reaches over to take the puppy from me with an angry huff, her
cheeks turning rosy as she realizes that she’s given away how she really feels
about Emily to me.

“I’m taking him to get his shots, and then he’s going home
with the family that adopted him about a week ago this afternoon.” I let her
have the wriggling ball of fur and watch her turn on her heel to leave, and
then she gets a strange look on her face.  “Oh, and if you ever want to stop
wasting your time on the teenage wonder girl in there, give me a call instead.”
She quirks a sultry grin at me, and I quirk both my eyebrows at her.